The latest developments on COVID-19 in Canada

The latest news on the COVID-19 global pandemic (all times Eastern):

6:05 p.m.

British Columbia has had three more deaths from COVID-19, all of them in long-term care homes, bringing the total number of fatalities in the province to 72.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, says 27 new cases of the disease have been confirmed.

That brings the total number of cases of COVID-19 in B.C. to 1,517.

She says 942 people have recovered from the illness.

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5:45 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 138 new cases of COVID-19.

That brings the total in the province to 1,870.

Alberta’s chief medical health officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw says increases are to be expected with more testing.

She also reported two additional deaths — one at the McKenzie Towne care centre in Calgary and the other at the Shepherd’s Care home in Edmonton.

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5:30 p.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken with Prince Charles about the impacts of COVID-19.

Charles, the Prince of Wales, tested positive for the respiratory disease last month.

The Prime Minister’s Office says Trudeau wished the prince good health and shared his appreciation for the message of hope and encouragement the Queen delivered to Canadians last week.

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4:45 p.m.

Health officials in Saskatchewan announced only one new case of COVID-19 in the province for a total of 301,

It comes one day after Premier Scott Moe says if cases remain low, next week a plan will be presented on how to reopen parts of the provincial economy.

Moe says everything depends on whether new case numbers remain flat, and no matter what, the lifting of restrictions will be phased-in.

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3:00 p.m.

Premier Doug Ford says Ontario’s schools will not re-open on May 4.

The government had previously issued an order saying that schools would be closed until that date.

Ford says it will not be possible to re-open school and more details will be coming.

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2:50 p.m.

Ontario has extended its state of emergency for another 28 days.

The bill to extend the measure passed during a special session at the provincial legislature today.

Premier Doug Ford says it is too soon to relax measures as the province continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The order closes non-essential businesses and child-care centres until May 12.

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2:44 p.m.

Premier Doug Ford says his government is moving more resources to fight COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes.

Ford says new orders allocating the resources to the homes will come tonight.

There are more than 90 outbreaks in long-term care homes across the province.

Ford says the order will deploy more staff to the homes and make it mandatory that they only work in one home.

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2:20 p.m.

The Manitoba government reported no new COVID-19 cases today.

The total remains at 246 cases, or 229 confirmed and 17 probable.

Nine people are in hospital, four of whom are in intensive care.

Ninety-nine people have recovered and the number of deaths remains at four.

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1:45 p.m.

New Brunswick is reporting no new cases of COVID-19, leaving the provincial total at 116 cases.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell says the province is moving in the right direction.

She says it has been overwhelming to see the number of people wanting to donate personal protective equipment or to sew masks.

The government has put a link on its coronavirus website to allow that to happen.

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1:15 p.m.

Quebec has recorded another 75 deaths connected to COVID-19, bringing the total to 435.

Premier Francois Legault says the province now has a total of 14,248 confirmed cases, an increase of 691.

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has risen to 936, and of those 230 are in intensive care, an increase of four from Monday.

Legault says the biggest problem is in the province’s understaffed long-term care centres, and he issued an appeal for any health-care workers to step forward to help.

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1 p.m.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister wants many public servants to accept a reduced work week during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pallister says the move would apply to non-frontline workers and free up resources for frontline services such as health care.

Pallister says he will pitch his idea to union leaders, and says it is a better alternative to layoffs.

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12:50 p.m.

Prince Edward Island is not reporting any new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, leaving the provincial total at 25 cases.

Chief public health officer Dr. Heather Morrison says 23 of those cases are considered recovered.

Modelling released Tuesday shows the province could have up to nine deaths from the pandemic by June 1, but that could have been 900 if the province hadn’t taken the public health measures it did.

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12:44 p.m.

Starting at midnight, the federal government says all people returning to Canada will have to check into a hotel or other designated site unless they have an acceptable self-quarantine plan.

The government says returnees — whether they have COVID-19 symptoms or not — must have an appropriate isolation plan that includes access to food and medicine.

They will also be forbidden to live with vulnerable people, such as anyone older than 65 or with pre-existing health conditions.

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12:24 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador reported no new cases of COVID-19 today.

The province has confirmed 244 cases and 149 people have recovered.

Eight people are in the hospital and three are in intensive care.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, chief medical officer of health, said the lack of new cases does not mean the province is out of the woods and another cluster could set the province back in its fight against the illness.

Fitzgerald issued an additional public health order prohibiting personal care home staff from working at multiple locations, unless required under “exceptional circumstances.”

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11:30 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is spending $130 million to help communities in the North withstand the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than half the money is being sent to the three territorial governments for their health and social services.

But millions of dollars will support airlines that serve the North and subsidy programs to defray the cost of food and hygiene products that are expensive to ship.

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11:15 a.m.

Health officials in Nova Scotia are reporting 43 new cases of COVID-19 bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 517.

The province says 10 people are currently in hospital, with four of those patients in intensive care.

A total of 124 people have now recovered and their cases of COVID-19 are considered resolved.

To date, Nova Scotia has had 16,755 negative test results, and three people have died from the disease. 

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11:05 a.m.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is calling for federal parties to strike a deal on a safe way for Parliament to meet.

Without one, business is scheduled to resume as normal Monday following a March decision to send MPs and senators home as part of national efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Parliament has convened twice since to pass emergency aid measures, but with only the bare minimum of legislators in the House of Commons and Senate.

Scheer says no one wants to see either chamber packed with people, but adds it is essential to resume Parliament so there is some measure of accountability.

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10:50 a.m.

Ontario says there are 483 new COVID-19 cases today and 43 new deaths.

That brings the province to a total of 7,953 cases, including 334 deaths and 3,568 cases that have been resolved.

It’s an increase of 6.5 per cent over yesterday’s total, continuing a relatively low growth rate over the past several days.

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9:30 a.m.

The agency that handles transit for the Metro Vancouver area is warning of “unprecedented cuts to service” if it does not receive emergency funding relief from the federal and provincial governments.

TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond says the company is losing $75 million every month because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Desmond says TransLink has done its best to keep essential services operating, but has seen revenue cut in half since mid-March, and he warns of “cashflow issues within weeks.”

TransLink operates bus, SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express commuter train services across Metro Vancouver but Desmond says entire routes could be cancelled if emergency funding does not arrive.

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8:55 a.m.

Two residents of another British Columbia care home have tested positive for COVID-19, just days after health officials confirmed four staff members had been diagnosed with the respiratory illness.

In a letter to residents and families at South Granville Park Lodge in Vancouver, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority says an outbreak has now been declared at the facility.

The province says 20 long-term care and assisted living homes have reported cases of the virus.

A total of 1,490 cases of the new coronavirus have been confirmed in the province and 69 patients have died.

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8 a.m.

A Toronto hospital has declared a COVID-19 outbreak in its intensive care unit.

St. Joseph’s Health Centre says a patient who was recently in the unit had tested positive for COVID-19.

The hospital says two staff who had been in contact with that patient tested positive over the weekend and are both doing well at home.

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7:30 a.m.

A seniors’ home in Toronto says a total of 25 residents have died from COVID-19.

Eatonville Care Centre, in the city’s west end, says the number has jumped due to new Toronto Public Health reporting guidelines.

Executive director Evelyn MacDonald says the deaths of nine residents due to unknown causes can now be attributed to COVID-19.

MacDonald says there are 49 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the home with six more test results are pending.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2020

The Canadian Press